Do you often say “I can’t? Do you focus more on your failures than your success? Do you often find yourself expecting the worst? Do you think that when people praise you they have some ulterior motive behind it?

If you answered “YES” to any of these questions, you could be a Negaholic.

Negaholics are people who are addicted to thinking and behaving in a negative manner. Negaholics believe that they will never be able to have what they want and convince themselves to kill their wishes, desires and dreams. They voluntarily mould their beliefs, attitude and perception that restrict them from happiness.

If you are not a Negaholic, I am sure you have come across one at your workplace or in some social gathering.

How can you tell if negativity exists in your workplace?

• People’s behavior is motivated by a desire to protect themselves.
• People spend much of their conversational time criticizing or judging others, policies, or the organization.
• People often use the word “I cant’s”.
• There is no consequence management

Reasons why people are Negaholics:

• Excessive work load
• Lack of challenge in work
• Insufficient recognition for the level of contribution and efforts provided
• Frustration
• Lack of accountability
• Brooding over the unresolved issues of the past which hinders their present work
• Carrying emotional baggage from home and act out in the workplace
• Wanting attention

Types of Negaholics at work:

Attitudinal Negaholics: These people portray from the outside that they have everything in order and in control. They are considered Perfectionist, but in reality they internalize their negativity and become control freaks to the extent that they become workaholics. Their negativity often doesn’t impact others until they break down.

Behavioral Negaholics: These people channelize their negativity by resorting to destructive behaviors such as back biting, playing office politics, manipulating when they have a situation that does not match up with their image of self which inturn creates a schism between their idea of who they are and the reality of the situation.

Verbal Negaholics: These people are very sarcastic by nature and they will not refrain from passing negative statements or cynical remarks about themselves, situations, places etc. The ironic part is they themselves are clueless about the fact that they are negative; they feel that they are accurately stating mere facts.

How can you as a manager help negate the Negattack?

Negattack means when you attack yourself for not living up to your expectations. The Negattack happens when part of you engages in a specific behaviour while another part separates from the behaviour and criticizes the part that is engaged in the behaviour.

As a manager you can suffer from negaholism, just like anyone else, and your negativity can have a profound effect on the workplace culture. So before you help the employee with his negaholism make sure that you are not one.

• You should be a role model. Communicate with your employees during good and bad times. Always have a positive attitude it is going to be worn off on your employees.
• Make sure that the employee is not given a job for which he is a misfit. Encourage employees to bring their concerns and grievances regarding the job or management without fear of reprisal. Schedule one on one meetings with the employee. If you are aware of the employee’s problems. Don’t wait for the employee to come to you.
• Give employees a reason to care. The key to this one is to get your team engaged by finding out what matters to them. This can also be supported through a bonus mechanism (awards for most sales, an employee going beyond the call of duty, etc.). Be wary of false praise. Acknowledge their accomplishments.
• Adopt a “No one succeeds until everyone succeeds” culture.
• Listen seriously and show that they can count on you. Ask relevant questions to get to any underlying issues that could be contributing to the problem.
• If the employee even after guiding is still being a plenitudinous source of negativity it should be brought to his notice that sometimes issues in the workplace cannot be solved to our liking and he should consciously make an effort to rectify his behaviour and accept the situation or find another job. In any event, continuing to complain is a waste of time.

How can you negate the Negattack at a Personal Level?

You do not have control over the events but you do over your thoughts. Whenever you get a negative thought pen it down. See what is the ratio of your negative thoughts over positive thought.

If a negative thought is bothering you for a very long time. Ask yourself:

• Are they worth worrying about?
• Can I work on them and turn them into positives?
• Can I channelize it in a productive manner?
• Try and learn to discriminate between worthwhile and unimportant thoughts. If you do have control over the situations then “ACT” on it, If not “LET IT GO”.

We all are Negaholics to some extent. According to one research our attitudes are influenced more by unpleasant news than good news. Certain amount of negativity is good to some extent because it helps you produce persuasive arguments and might prompt us to think more carefully. But if you are stuck in that phase the merits soon transform to demerits.

I am certainly not advocating that everyone should promote optimism bias. Just like negative thinking, positive thinking has its proven benefits, both physically and psychologically. The trick is finding the balance between being optimistic and being realistic.